How to stabilise your career in recruitment after COVID-19

It’s all the world has been talking about for the last 4 months. It’s uprooted our everyday lives, careers and relationships with friends and family.

As the UK slowly drifts back towards normality, although now with face masks as the norm and fears of a second peak on the horizon, it’s time to talk shop again.

Recruitment is one of the most reactionary industries there is. When business is booming for other companies, recruitment booms with it. When things take a nosedive, we find ourselves trimming the fat with the days of incentive trips to Ibiza seeming a little further from reach.

As anyone who bore witness to the recruitment industries revival after the 2008 crash knows, recruitment will bounce back. Things might seem a little different now, but there is a way forward. Here’s how to stabilise your career in recruitment after COVID-19.

How is Coronavirus impacting the recruitment sector?

Before we start looking at the actionable insights to help stabilise your career, let’s first take a look at the shape of the sector as a whole.

The economy has been pretty much on pause for the last few months and certain sectors like hospitality have been hit harder than others.

So the first thing you should do is take an introspective look at your own sector. Are businesses on the rebuild or are finances still low?

Beyond this, look at the working practices of your existing or prospective clients. Are they allowing face-to-face business to resume or are they working from home? Are there any adjustments they’ve needed to make to the everyday running of their businesses to reduce the risk of infection? This may seem inconsequential on the surface but an understanding of how managers are working with their teams is imperative to understanding how they’ll look to take on new talent.

Building & maintaining relationships is vital to success

With the sheer amount of people on furlough, and the others who have been made redundant completely, you’re likely to enter a candidate heavy environment. So prepare for competition. The jobs that are available will be competitive. The sheer amount of available talent will mean that companies can hold out for the best and brightest in every position.

This means that your relationships will play a huge role in your success as a recruiter. If you haven’t already, get in contact with the best talent you’ve worked with in the past and find out about their situation. Having a previous relationship with truly excellent candidates will help you alleviate the potential of drop-outs or putting sub-par candidates forward.

Moreover, clients will have more on their mind than recruiting. So, if you have a strong working relationship as a previous supplier, you can gain the upper-hand on the competition. When it comes to hiring, managers will want the process to be as little stress as possible. This is where you can shine.

Read up on the latest information & guidance

This sounds like pretty standardised and uninspiring advice, however it’s not just for your own personal benefit.

If you stay fully informed on the latest government advice and information regarding the virus, you will be approaching every conversation with a full understanding of the situation your clients and candidates will be in. This means you know how to advise them on recruiting, ways of working and also ensure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot during any negotiations.

Be patient, discuss concerns & work on your pipeline

It’s a tense situation for many. This means that you need to be compassionate as a recruiter. You’re most likely not particularly high on the priority list for many business owners. So, traditional approaches to recruitment calls won’t work.

Don’t let COVID-19 be the elephant in the room. Openly discuss this with clients and candidates, be empathetic to their situation, understand their concerns and be patient.

You can still recruit in the aftermath of the pandemic, though the process may have a few more steps, it might be a little longer and you’ll have to adapt.

If you’re really struggling to get a bite from clients, focus on your pipeline. Do the legwork required to give yourself a head start when people begin to show an interest in recruitment again.

Find solutions in technology

People are still nervous about unnecessary contact with others. This can make it a pain to get candidates to attend interviews.

Though, the lockdown has shown us the importance of technology. Adopting a flexible approach to recruitment strategies through tech is important. You may have wanted to meet with high-profile candidates and clients in person but in all honesty, it’s not essential anymore. Video calls are going to be your best friend as a recruiter.

Video interview software like Hinterview can help you make placements without necessarily needing to put face-to-face interviews in place.

De-prioritise international opportunities

International opportunities are some of the most exciting to fall onto your desk, and there’s usually a strong hook to bring in the best candidates. Unfortunately, these are not particularly feasible at the moment.

Remember, even if your opportunity is in a country where quarantine after landing isn’t needed, if anyone on the same flight is deemed to have COVID-19 symptoms at the airport, your candidate will be in lockdown for 2 weeks. This is an unnecessary candidate drop-out that you really don’t need right now.

This means that you should focus your work on positions which can be placed in the here-and-now.

With that said, some markets are picking up. If you can place people on the ground, there’s no need to de-prioritise these opportunities. Just keep clear of any roles which require relocating candidates.

Propose delayed start dates

If you have a position which is close to being filled but your client is getting cold feet about finalising the deal in the current climate, it might be worth proposing a delayed start date.

If you can get the deal signed and across the line but with the candidate starting in a few months, it could help make everyone involved a little less twitchy about the situation.

Yes, it might mean not getting any commission for a few months, but it will help you to have something concrete to look forward to in the future.

Identify gaps in the market & pain-points

We’ve already seen businesses discuss the potential of going bust as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19. This rings alarm bells through plenty of industries, not just those linked to tourism, transport and hospitality.

If you’re seeing businesses in your market change their ways of working to adapt to the situation, it’s likely they’ll encounter pain points or open up gaps which need to be filled.

Pull up a list of the clients you have a strong relationship with and ask them how they’re handling business after COVID-19. Understand what they’re going through and identify where you’ll be able to help them. This is where you can fall back on your strong consultancy skills.

Remember, it’s not about selling anymore, it’s about positioning yourself as a solution for businesses that are encountering unprecedented and unplanned issues.

Give priority to flexible working and work from home roles

When you’re looking at roles to fill, it’s clear that the easiest will be those that allow employees flexible working and the ability to work from home. Plenty of these types of businesses have been successful at maintaining their income during COVID-19. Just because economic uncertainty is damaging to some, the pandemic has been a cash cow for others – think pharmaceutical or tech companies.

You might find some candidates who want the security of working from home at the moment, or the flexibility to care for their dependents but aren’t getting that from their current employer. This is where you can make a difference and help ease their transition into a new role with a company that offers these perks.

Prioritise quality over quantity

Some firms are successful by pushing a high volume of candidates at clients. This isn’t going to cut it at the moment. The sheer number of available candidates and the drop in available vacancies means that companies can look for a better quality of candidate.

Remember this when sifting through CVs. It’s not enough to be ‘good enough’ anymore, your candidates have to be remarkable.

Don’t put yourself in danger

The best piece of advice that we can give you to help continue recruiting after the lockdown is to look after yourself. There remains a risk of a second peak and you can’t recruit when you’re ill, so keep your own personal safety a priority.

We’re of the mindset that now is a time for calm and calculated action, not anarchy or panic. However, there is a gravity to the situation at present which cannot be ignored. Look after yourself, take the official guidance and advice, and find intelligent solutions to the current problem.

We hope all of our recruiter friends are healthy and can weather the economic uncertainty that we’re currently facing.